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by Kristen Lehman

Thoughts on being naked-and changing the world

Connor’s favorite song says “We are young, so we’ll set the world on fire…” or something like that. I’m pretty sure I’ve only heard the children sing it, which is often a distant cry from accurate. Shannon loves singing this song! She sings it in the car, in her bed at 2:00 A.M., and during concert time in the bathtub.

One particular day, Shannon was singing in the tub and abruptly stopped to listen to the words.

Shannon: “Mom, why do the kids want to set the world on fire? That’s not very nice.”

Me: “I think it means that kids have so much goodness in their hearts that they can change the world if they want to.”

She gaped at me in horror.

“But Mom, the world is perfect!”

I am constantly amazed at her ability to see only the beautiful things in everything. Her world isperfect. She has a loving family and she knows it. She says, “I just love you” at least a hundred times a day. She loves “Oak,” the giant tree in the front yard, so much that she wraps blankets around his trunk when it’s cold and gently pats him when it’s windy, so he won’t be scared. She collects roly-polys and flies and caterpillars and butterflies. It makes sense that she would be horrified.

Me:“I mean that kids can make the world better! They are helping set the fire of the Holy Spirit on the world to make it better.”

I was so proud! I was using my theology degree and motivating my sweet child all at the same time. WIN! While I was throwing myself the mother of the year party, Big Sister was throwing open the bathroom door.

She turned and yelled back to me, “Ok, let’s make the world better! Come on…”

All of a sudden, it clicked. She was seriously going to go out into the world, right now, in all her naked glory to make it better. We weren’t totally shocked as this wasn’t the first time she’d wandered into the front yard at some level of undress. On this particular day, two of our neighbors were in our yard chatting. Shannon threw open the front door and ran into the middle of the yard. Suddenly she came to a dead stop and let out an ear piercing, “OH NO!!” She stared at me like I should have handled this situation differently. “I forgot my lipstick!” and she ran back in the house.

I think in our grown up heads we believe that world-changing should be left to the idealistic naked ones. We tend to put on our shoes one foot at a time, drive our ordinary cars to our ordinary jobs and be content (or not) with our seemingly ordinary lives. Perhaps the risk takers, the scriptural naked ones like Moses, John the Baptist, and Peter–the actual world changers–were not necessarily fearless, not necessarily stronger, or righter, or more passionate, or more impulsive. Perhaps the naked ones were the ones most willing to seek the extraordinary within themselves. Perhaps the naked ones are the ones willing to see past the ordinary to seek their truest self, to find their wings. Today I challenge you (and me) to spend a moment remembering how we entered this world. We too were, and can continue to be, world changers (and naked).

on: “Mom, why do the kids want to set the world on fire? That’s not very nice.”

Me: “I think it means that kids have so much goodness in their hearts that they can change the world if they want to.”

She gaped at me in horror.

“But Mom, the world is perfect!”

I am constantly amazed at her ability to see only the beautiful things in everything. Her world isperfect. She has a loving family and she knows it. She says, “I just love you” at least a hundred times a day. She loves “Oak,” the giant tree in the front yard, so much that she wraps blankets around his trunk when it’s cold and gently pats him when it’s windy, so he won’t be scared. She collects roly-polys and flies and caterpillars and butterflies. It makes sense that she would be horrified.

Me:“I mean that kids can make the world better! They are helping set the fire of the Holy Spirit on the world to make it better.”

I was so proud! I was using my theology degree and motivating my sweet child all at the same time. WIN! While I was throwing myself the mother of the year party, Big Sister was throwing open the bathroom door.

She turned and yelled back to me, “Ok, let’s make the world better! Come on…”

All of a sudden, it clicked. She was seriously going to go out into the world, right now, in all her naked glory to make it better. We weren’t totally shocked as this wasn’t the first time she’d wandered into the front yard at some level of undress. On this particular day, two of our neighbors were in our yard chatting. Shannon threw open the front door and ran into the middle of the yard. Suddenly she came to a dead stop and let out an ear piercing, “OH NO!!” She stared at me like I should have handled this situation differently. “I forgot my lipstick!” and she ran back in the house.

I think in our grown up heads we believe that world-changing should be left to the idealistic naked ones. We tend to put on our shoes one foot at a time, drive our ordinary cars to our ordinary jobs and be content (or not) with our seemingly ordinary lives. Perhaps the risk takers, the scriptural naked ones like Moses, John the Baptist, and Peter–the actual world changers–were not necessarily fearless, not necessarily stronger, or righter, or more passionate, or more impulsive. Perhaps the naked ones were the ones most willing to seek the extraordinary within themselves. Perhaps the naked ones are the ones willing to see past the ordinary to seek their truest self, to find their wings. Today I challenge you (and me) to spend a moment remembering how we entered this world. We too were, and can continue to be, world changers (and naked).